people shall bo separated fl'om thy bowels; Ver. 26. -And after that Cl&me hia brother -lit,m,lly, and two peoples from thy bowels out, and his baud took bold on Esau's beol. (or womb) are sepamted, i. e. proceeding The inf. constr. standing for the finito verb from thv womb, they shall be divided from (Ewald's 'Heb. Synt.,' § 304). Not simply and ng,,1nst each other-and the one people followed close upon the heels of Esau (Ka- shell be stronger than the other people lisch), but seized Esau's heel, ns if he wonl<l (lit~rally, and pecple shdl be stronger than trip him up (Keil, Murphy). It has boen con- people, i. e. the one sliall 1irevail over the tended (De Wctte, Sclmmann, Knobel) that ot.her) ; and the elder shall serve the such en act wa.s impossible, a work on obstet, yonnger-i. e. the descendants of the elder rics by Busch maintaining that an hour com- shall be sub_jcct to those of the younger. monly intervenes between tho birth of twins· ride inspired comments on this oracle in but practitioners of eminence who have bee~ 11lal. i. 2, 3 and Rom. ix. 12-33. consulted declare the act to be distinctly Ver. 24.-And when her days to be de- possible, and indeed it is well known that livered were fuliilled,-literally, and were "a multitude of surprising phenomena are fulfilled, h"f1" ,days t~ brii'lff fo~th; l,r)..ripw- connected with births" (Havernick), some e1J11av a, ,,µ,pa, rov nu,v avrriv (LXX. ; of which are not greatly dissimilar to that cf. Luke i. 57 ; ii. 6). Jarcbi aCC'ounts for which is here recorded. Delitzsch interprets the different phrase used of The.mar (eh. the language as meaning only that the xxuiii. 27), who also bore twins, by sup- band of Jacob reached out in the direction posing tl1at she had not completed her days, of his brother's heel, as if to grasp it; but but gave birth to Pharez and Zarab in the Hosea xii. 3 explicitly asserts that be had sc,·entb month (vide Rosenmiiller, in loco) his brother's heel by the hand while yet - behold, there were twins in her womb (cf. in his mother's womb. And his name was eh. xxxn.ii. 27, where the full form of tbo called-literally, and he (i. e. one) called hi,s word for twins is given). name; ,ra, i1ra)..urE ro avoµa abroii (LXX.); Yer. 25.-And the first c!LDle out red,- id circo appellavit eum (Vulgate; cf. eh. A dlvmoni, ,rv{,pai;:r,t; (LXX.), rufus (Vul- xvi. 14; xx:vii. 36)-Jacob. Not "Suc- gatc), red-haired (Gescnius), of a reddish cessor," like the Latin secundus, from sequor colour (Lange), containing an allusion to (Knobel, Kalisch) ; but "Heel-catcher" Adham, the red earth - all over like an (Rosenmiiller, Gesenius, Keil, Lange, Mur- hairy garment. Literally, all of him as a phy), hence Supplanter (cf. eh. xx.xvii. 36). cloak of hair (not, as the LXX., Vulgate, And Isaac was threescore years old when et alii, n.ll of him hairy, like a cloak) ; the she bare them. Literally, in tlie bearing oj fnr cloak, or hair mantle, forming one notion them, the inf. constr. taking the case of its (Gescnius). The appearance of the child's verb (vide Gesenius, § 133) = when she (the body, conred with an unusual quantity of mother) bare them; arE frE«Ev abrovi; 'PE- red hair, was "a sign of excessive sensual {3,ua (LXX.); quum nati sunt j)(U/'Vuli vigour and wildness" (Keil), "a foreboding (Vulgate) ; though, as Rebekah's name does of the animal violence of his character " not occur in the immediate context, and ,,, (Kalisch), "the indication of a passionate is applied to the father (eh. iv. 18; x. 8, 13) and precocious nature" (Murphy). And ae well as to the mother, the clause may bo they called his name Esau - '' the hairy rendered when he (ls(!ac) begat tliem (Kalisch, one," from an unused root signifying to be Alford). covered with hair (Gcscuius).
HOMILETICS. Vera. 19-26.-T/te childless pair. I. THE DISAPPOINTED HUSDAND. 1. Tlte grievous ajftiction. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, was barren. Though neither uncommon nor unjust, this was to Isaac (1) a specially severe affliction, from its long continuance, from his love for Rebekah, from his own natural desire of offspring, but cl,iefly from his faith in the promise; (2) a highly beneficial a~iction, serving to instruct and discipline his faith as to the true character of the cluldren of the pro- mise, to refine and intensify his affection for Rebelmh, to purify and elevate his own spiritual life and to enable him to realise his complete dependence on the grace of God. 2. The earnest intercession. "Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife." Isaac's supplication was (1) directed to the right quarter, since "children are the heritage of the Lord;" (2) conceived in the right spirit, the word "entreated" implying earnest and repeated application to the heavenly throne; (3) stated in. the right way, wit!, plainness and simplicity of speech; and (4) seconded by the nght l,elpAr, Rebekah, nccorrling to one reading of the text., joining her entreaties with her en. XXV. 27-34.J THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 319